A Heart for Darkness
by Sakirin
Summary: Even in the deepest darkness, no one is alone. And at times, you could swear you felt the beating of another's heart.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and its characters do not belong to me.  Niitro'kai, however, is of my own creation.

I thought it important to add a brief note:  This fic is not Mary-Sue, and it deals with friendship, not with falling in love.

---

Chapter One: A Voice in the Darkness

Darkness.

Drifting.

And solidity, after so long falling.

He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, slowly opening his eyes to the half-light of wherever he was; nowhere in particular, really.  But what had happened?  The island, the shadows come alive..was it all just a dream?  If it had been a dream, then how had he gotten here, somewhere he didn't know?  Too many questions, with no answers...

_|Hello.|_

"W-who's there?  Where are you?"

_|I'm here.  You just can't see me.  Not yet.|_

There it was again..it made his head feel funny, like he wasn't actually hearing the voice.  Like it was in his mind.  _Oh, great..now I've got voices in my head._

|_You're not hearing things, and you're not going crazy.  I promise you that.|_

He thought he saw a flicker of movement to his left, and then there she was, sitting in front of him.  He couldn't make her out very well, but his overall impression was of a sizable individual, catlike, with..wings?  The only clear thing were slit-pupiled, pale purple eyes, veined in silver.  And they were staring directly into his own.

_|I am Niitro'kai.  You are Riku, yes?|_

"I-I am.  How do you know my name?"

_|I do.  It's not important how.|_

"Oh...what am I supposed to do now, then?  How do I get out of here?"

|Don't worry about that right now- all will be explained in due time.  Until then, I do recommend that you get some sleep.|

Riku snorted, skeptical.  

"Sleep?  On what?"

_|Is fur not a pillow suitable enough for you?|_

With that, he felt her twine around him, and the end of her tail brush against his face.  No other options came to mind, so he leaned back against her, finding her fur to be soft and clean, and with an odor that was not unpleasant.  Then a wing wrapped around him, and he fell into a dreamless sleep.

---

When he awoke, it was to fur tickling his nose and sun shining on his face.  Bleary-eyed, he sat up to find himself in another strange place.  He was in a real bed now, in a tastefully decorated, but insignificant sort of room.

_|Good morning.|_

That startled him, and he jumped a bit.  It took him a moment to remember, but once he did, he turned around to get a better look at the creature.  She was, indeed, a cat..perhaps a meter high at the shoulder when standing, maybe a little more.  The first animal that came to mind was a panther, but she was different in several ways: her ears were large and pointed, with long tufts at the tips, and seemed to be split vertically down the middle by color- purple and blue; her eyes were ringed in such colors as well, and ebony falcon's wings were barred in the same; "stockings" and a tailtip that faded from azure to violet completed the assessment.  When she sat up, however, he noticed another marking on her ruffed chest.  A red shape, reminiscent of a heart divided into sections, stood out prominently against silky black fur.  As she looked at him, he got an uncanny impression that she was smiling at him, in her own sort of way.

_|See something you like?|_

"Sorry...it's just, I've never seen anyone like you before."

|Nor are you likely to again, I think.  Now that you are sufficiently rested, there is someone who is very much eager to see you.|

"Why would someone want to meet me?"

|Because you're special, Riku.  And for that reason, Maleficent sent me to ensure your safety.  Now that you have awoken, I am to take you to her.  Other than that, I know nothing.|

"And once you've done that, you're going to leave me, aren't you?"

There was a note of melancholy in his voice...he had no idea where he was, where his friends were, nothing.  And now that he thought he'd found something secure to hold onto, it was going to be gone.

|I never said that, now, did I?  I won't leave unless you ask me to.  That settled, I need to take you to Maleficent, or she'll have my hide for being late.|

Having finished, she hopped easily down from the bed, landing softly on large paws, which undoubtedly hid sheathed claws.  Niitro'kai stretched languidly, flipping her tail once or twice for good measure, before looking up at him.

_|Well, are you coming or not?|_

With no further ado, she pushed open the door and moved out into the hallway, giving him a moment to catch up to her.  She allowed him no further time, however, and led him down a series of halls, until they stopped before a rather large and imposing set of double-doors.  She pawed at these, and they opened with her soft tapping to reveal an immense hall of vaulted ceilings, where shadows with lives of their own were prolific.

"Hello, Riku.  We've been waiting for you for quite some time.  I trust you slept well, my boy?"

A tall woman in strange garb addressed him thus, and he assumed rightly that she was the one Niitro'kai called "Maleficent."

"Uh..yes, I did, thank you..."

They merely stood there, for an indeterminate amount of time, before anyone spoke again.  It was Maleficent who did so, and this time she was not speaking to him.

"You're still here, Niitro'kai?  You've finished what you were sent to do.  Now put yourself somewhere out of sight; we no longer have need of you."

Riku found those unnerving, argent-gleaming eyes focused on him again, and one closed briefly in a wink, before she padded away to a shadowed corner and curled up on herself, wings folded over her body.

Bracing himself, he stepped forward into the hall.

---

.endchapter.

Err, that would be my first attempt at KH fanfiction, as well as attempting to get down the story of 'my' Niitro'kai.  She's existed for a while, but I needed to give her a story.

Don't worry, though, because the story's about Riku, too.

Reviews are always lovely..


	2. Claws for Complaint

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and its characters do not belong to me.  Niitro'kai, on the other hand, is quite happily **my **fuzzy.****

This **is** going to stay about Riku, I promise.

I apologize in advance for any errors in this chapter..I'm really quite tired at the moment.  And if the italics get eaten in places, it's not my fault.  Just pretend they're there.

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Chapter Two: Claws for Complaint

As Riku walked slowly away from the shadow-chamber's doors (which had closed with an ominous, resounding sort of thud), a shadow fell in beside him, keeping pace with him.  Deep in thought, it took him a few moments to notice, but even then he made no indication of it.  He continued resolutely on his way, his footsteps providing an echoed staccato on the marble floors, while her paws made no sound on the cold stone.  Brooding as he was, he failed to realize that Niitro'kai had interposed herself between Riku and, well, the rest of the long hallway.  Until, that is, he walked right into her.

_|You're going the wrong way, you know.|_

Startled away from his musings, he didn't respond for some time- just blinked at her.

"What?"

_|Your room is back to the left.  You passed it some time ago, actually.|_

"You could've told me earlier, cat."

_|This is true.  Though I wasn't exactly paying attention myself.|_

"So it admits fallibility, does it?"

He half-grinned down at her, and got a pointed glare in return.  He noted, somewhat dismayed, that she'd gone completely still, except for a slight twitch at the end of her tail.  Just like a cat when it's about to-

The next thing he knew, he was on his back with the wind knocked out of him, caught between the stone floor and a creature that was surprisingly hefty for a shadow.

---

_|So, what did old Dragon Breath want, anyway?|_

Niitro'kai was sprawled out on his bed in a way that only such a large cat could accomplish, unashamedly using one of the fluffier of Riku's pillows for herself.  Every now and then her tail brushed against him, never seeming to cease its movement completely.

"Pretty nosy for a servant, aren't we?"

Riku picked at his fingernails, himself propped up by a mountain of pillows.  If nothing else, this place wasn't lacking for comforts.  Just human companionship, maybe..

_|Well, I _am_ a cat.  We're supposed to be nosy.|_

She yawned, displaying curved white fangs, and looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

|That's not very good for your fingernails, I should think.  You could always pet me instead, if you're looking for something to do.|

He quirked an eyebrow at her, but otherwise did as he was told, running his fingers down the curving line of her spine.

"Just don't drool on my pillows, okay?"

_|I wouldn't dream of it, my liege.|_

She purred audibly, and he rested his hand near her throat for a moment, appreciating the sensation.

"You really want to know what she's up to, don't you?"

_|I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to know.|_

"She...told me about my friends.  About Sora and Kairi."

She stopped purring abruptly and looked directly at him, surprised.

_|She knows where they are?|_

"Not yet, but she says that she's been looking for them.  I hope Sora's taking care of Kairi."

_|They must mean a lot to you, your friends.  Sora and Kairi.|_

Riku sighed heavily, and pressed his face into the soft fur of Niitro'kai's back.

"I just wish I knew where they were, or what they're doing…anything at all about them.."

He wrapped his arms tightly around her and cried, surrendering himself to desperation.

---

.endchapter.

Err..sorry about the delay in getting this chapter up, but I was caught up in other things.  That, and I really don't like writing dialogue.  We don't seem to get along very well.

I know there wasn't really much to this chapter, but it seemed important to put it in.

As always, reviews are nice.


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